Christmas in July!!!

I never thought I would be one of those women that started thinking about Christmas in July. Well, I guess I am! In fact, I started thinking about it in June! When we were visiting my photographer friend, I came up with this amazing idea!!! My friend will be back down visiting family in October. I had already asked her to make time in her plans to do our Christmas photos considering she won't be here in November and she did such an amazing job on our engagement pictures! So she agreed and then I started thinking about location and what to wear. While I was in DC I managed to find a knitting store near the Capitol (super cool btw!). In the shop, called STITCH DC, I found this great sock weight yarn that would look amazing as a ribbed sleeveless top. I purchased red, again thinking ahead about Christmas. Anyways, so while we are walking about the Natural History Museum with my friend and her family, I had another brilliant idea!!! My husband and I's love for Harry Potter apparently does not stop at books, movies and merchandise; it will now also include family photos!!! HAHA. Okay, so here is my idea: When they built Harry Potter World at Universal, they made Hogsmeade (the wizarding village just below Hogwarts Castle), with snow capped buildings. So Christmas pictures in October wouldn't be much a stretch since it always looks like winter there. But then I got to thinking even more.....how cool would it be if I made my husband and I knitted sweaters, hats, scarves and robes to go with???? So yes, dear family and friends, my husband and I will be saying very soon: Happy Holidays from Hogsmeade!!!

Of course this throws me into a state of panic. That's not much time and considering I haven't made a garment of any kind yet, Im a bit freaked out! But not to worry, Knit! is a great resource and so is the net. Just finding the time is the problem. All of the yarn has been purchased and to my great surprise, JoAnns had everything I needed! So back to working on house scarves and hats.

On another note, I finally finished the afghan I was making for my mother in law. I used the Tunisian crochet hook that I purchased at the Stitches convention in Atlanta back in April. Having never used this technique before, the afghan came out a bit smaller than I had hoped, but it still looks really neat! I can't wait to make another blanket this way, it was really quick and mindless, which makes it perfect for watching tv and trying to knit. I hope she likes it!